. >> joining me from capitol hill is mike viqueira. thanks for being here. >> hey. >> you heard congressman cole there, number four house republican, deputy whip. he knows a bit about this. is he just trying to sound sort of positive? what do you take from that on the ground? >> i don't think that tom cole has the constituency, although he's known as a reasoned member and close to john boehner, i don't think he has the stoitsy to follow him to avert this cliff. look, the last minute, as tom cole said, the deals come together at the last minute. the last minute was really before christmas. as a practical matter, that is how these deals come together each of the last three years of the obama administration, on the budget, on deficit, on tax cuts years ago. they came together before christmas. it's hard to see how this works out at this point, to tell you the truth. there is a conference call at 2:30 among house republicans trying to decide what to do. we expect the leadership to let the rank and file know what their plans are. the speake